Monday, December 4, 2017

December
4, 2017 (Reuters) - Moscow will deploy S-400 surface-to-air
missiles and nuclear-capable Iskander systems in the exclave of
Kaliningrad in retaliation for NATO deployments, a senior pro-Kremlin
lawmaker was quoted as saying on Monday. Russia has previously said
it periodically sends Iskanders to Kaliningrad, but until now it has
said these were routine drills. Moscow has not linked the moves
explicitly with what it says is a NATO military build-up on Russia’s
western borders. After the election as U.S. president of Donald
Trump, who has said he wants closer ties with the Kremlin and has
questioned the cost of protecting NATO allies, some analysts predict
an emboldened Moscow could become more assertive in eastern Europe.

Russian S-400 Triumph
medium-range and long-range surface-to-air missile systems drive
during the Victory Day parade, marking the 71st anniversary of the
victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, at Red Square in Moscow,
Russia, in this May 9, 2016. photo REUTERS (Sergei
Karpukhin).

Viktor Ozerov, chairman
of the defense committee in the Federation Council, Russia’s upper
house of parliament, said in remarks reported by RIA news agency that
Russia was forced to react to the planned U.S. missile shield in
eastern Europe. “As response measures to such threats we will
have... to deploy additional forces... This reinforcement includes
deployment of S-400 and Iskander systems in Kaliningrad,” the
agency quoted Ozerov as saying.

The Iskander-M is a mobile short-range ballistic missile system
designed to be used in theater level conflicts with an official range
of up to 500 km (minimum-50 km) to comply with the limits of the INF
Treaty. Highly mobile and stealth, it can hardly be detected even with
the help of space reconnaissance assets. The accuracy, range and ability
to penetrate defenses allow it to function as an alternative to
precision bombing for air forces that cannot expect to launch bombing or
cruise missile fire missions reliably in the face of superior enemy
fighters and air defenses.

The defense ministry did
not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Ozerov’s
remarks. Also on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted
talking about how Russia has to respond to what it perceives as a
threat from U.S.-led forces in eastern Europe.